Digitally Archiving the Scholarship of Weaving Communities: The Cross Country Weavers
Danielle Burke
In March we welcome artist, folklorist, and PhD candidate in Design Studies (history) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Danielle Burke. Her presentation will be a shorter-than-usual program—just 30 minutes—in order that she may have a conversation with us and we with her about the kinds of studies possible and the issues raised by her research. (Click "Show details" for Zoom link.)
“This presentation will draw from my research on the Cross Country Weavers (CCW) and focus on questions of archival materiality and accessibility. CCW began in 1957 and maintains a 30-person national membership who exchange yearly woven samples responding to technical or thematic prompts. The samples were typically saved, alongside draft notation cards and pertinent ephemera, and assembled over the years into personal reference materials for weaving projects. These archives, found in partial sets around the country and as an entire set at the Thousand Island Arts Center, enable the study of diverse record keeping practices that must address both material culture and textual artifacts, and the study of public access to community archives. The potential for digitization further intensifies these issues, and invites conversations on collective intellectual property management and posthumous consent.”
Danielle Burke is an artist and folklorist. She studies textiles, craft pedagogy, and artist communities; her studio practice focuses primarily on weaving. She is currently a PhD candidate in Design Studies (history) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. daniellelouiseburke.com
